


Love Letters

by CarlottaStudios



Category: Storm Hawks (Cartoon)
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Just lots of fluff, and crack, and one-sided finnove, just a mild hint, there's also a hint of pirow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:29:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlottaStudios/pseuds/CarlottaStudios
Summary: Junko has been secretly sending love letters to his crush, Dove, and tries to keep the secret liaison a secret. Comedy ensues.





	1. The Love Letter

"Hey Junko! Watcha doing?"

Junko nearly jumped three feet in the air at the sound of Aerrow's voice. He dropped the pencil so that it landed with a clatter on the floor as he spun to face the sky knight. Aerrow was leaning casually in the doorframe, cool as a blizzard crystal, though his eyes widened at Junko's sudden jump. The wallop slapped a hand down on the paper he'd been writing on, his huge palm covering the letters.

"Nothing!" he said, too loudly and redder in the face than Aerrow's hair.

Aerrow raised an eyebrow. His face said it all: 'Yeah, right.'

Junko's grey eyes darted again to the paper.

"Just writing a letter." he finally blurted.

Aerrow was interested.

"Can I see?"

"NO!"

Aerrow jumped back, ears ringing. Junko hesitated.

"I mean, uh."

A bead of sweat was budding at his temple. Now Aerrow knew something was up, but also knew it was only a matter of time before the wallop would crack. Just a few more seconds...

"Well...okay."

Junko handed Aerrow the letter, then ducked his head and hunched his shoulders. Aerrow scanned the page. He blinked.

"Junko," a grin spread over his face. "Is this a love letter?"

The boy could almost feel Junko's embarrassment. He nodded.

"Is it..." he asked tentatively. “...good?"

"Yeah! It's really good!"

And it was. The poetic words were descriptions of beautiful imagery, and painted a very pretty picture. Aerrow had never thought that Junko was dull-witted or not good with words (in fact, this letter seemed to prove he was much better than Aerrow himself), but he'd never pegged the engineer as a poetic kind of guy.

"I mean, this line here: "raindrops on blue skies, such are your eyes", I mean, how did you get this stuff?"

Seeing some obviously promising feedback, Junko shrugged with no small amount of pride.

"I just write down whatever comes to mind."

Aerrow was sure he'd never look at his flight mechanic in quite the same way again.

"So, who's the lucky girl?" he asked.

He expected Junko to be embarrassed again, and he didn't disappoint. Junko's blush reappeared.

"Come on, Junko," Aerrow wheedled, "I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me too."

He hesitated, then gave Aerrow a serious look.

"You promise?"

"Promise."

"Swear on your oath as a sky knight."

Aerrow put a hand over his heart.

"I swear as a sky knight of Atmos that I won't tell anyone who that letter's for."

Junko let out his breath.

"Okay," he looked up at Aerrow, then away again, "It's Dove."

Aerrow blinked. Once, then twice. Had he heard right?

"You're writing a love letter to Dove?" he asked. "As in, Terra Gale Dove? As in Wren's granddaughter?"

"Yes, her. I'm writing Dove love letters!" Junko admitted in a rush. "I mean, she's nice and smart and a good fighter and she's really pretty too. Like, a very natural kind of pretty, like she's not even trying, and I like that. And she's tough too. Come to think of it, she kinda reminds me of some of the girls I had a crush on back on Terra Wallop. Except, you know, she's even prettier than them and a whole lot nicer and not as...punch-y."

Aerrow nodded slowly at that last bit. Certainly compared to a female wallop (no offence to female wallops everywhere), he could see why Junko would like Dove. And yet...

"But...doesn't Finn have, like, a huge crush on Dove?"

That thought seemed to have already occurred to Junko as he buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"I know! He'd be so mad if he found out about these letters! He'd definitely not want to be my best bud anymore!"

"Hey, it's okay." Aerrow soothed, but interrupted him with a finger pointing in his face.

"You promise not to ever tell Finn!"

"I promise!" Aerrow assured. "I gave you my word as a sky knight that I'd never tell him, so I won't."

Junko deflated like a balloon, wiping his forehead and sighing loudly with relief.

"Thank Atmos!" he breathed.

Aerrow smiled and left so the wallop could complete his letter in peace. Then he stopped as something Junko had said caught up to him.

"Junko?" he turned to look at the wallop. "What did you mean by "letters"?"


	2. Building a Plan

Something was up, and Piper knew it. It was painfully obvious from the way Junko and Aerrow were acting.

It had started when Junko had locked himself in his room for almost the whole afternoon, doing who-knows-what. Okay, so he didn't lock himself in, but he hadn't emerged for hours. Aerrow had gone to check on him and, a long time later, both had gone to the hangarbay. "For a little team recon" they'd said. Piper hadn't bought it for a second.

Aerrow and Junko were the worst liars on the ship (with the sky knight being almost as bad at deception as the wallop), but when she'd gone down to see what exactly it was they were actually doing, she'd found both them and their skimmers gone. So, they were going out to do something, but it definitely wasn't recon. That she was sure of.

That had been almost two days ago. Two days for Piper's curiosity to grow and boil and simmer and gnaw at her until she literally could not think of anything else. Why were Junko and Aerrow acting so shifty-eyed as though they knew a secret they didn't want to tell anyone? She was positive that it wasn't anything closet-related, but she had to find out.

'But how?' she wondered, biting the end of her pen pensively (no pun intended) as she wrote in her diary.

Just then, there was a knock on her door.

"Hold on!" she called out, then she closed her diary, folded back the strap that kept it closed, took out a tiny silver key from her pocket and locked the book before placing the sacred text deep in her underwear drawer under a pile of, well, you guessed it, underwear. "Okay, come in!"

It was Finn (the reason she had put a lock on her diary and hid it in her underwear drawer).

"Piper, why didn't you make any more cookies?" he asked.

The crystal mage rolled her eyes.

"Finn, you finished them all off last week."

"Exactly! I've been a whole week without sweets! I can't take it! I need my sugar!"

Piper desperately wanted to point out that Finn could be hyper enough without sugar, but it wouldn't do any good.

"Finn, I'm not going to make cookies for you whenever you want! Besides, it's your own fault for finishing them off so fast."

"But they're just so gooood!" whined the blond, falling to his knees and clasping his hands to Piper in supplication. "Please, Piper, I'm begging you! It's for the good of the squadron!"

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"The good of the squadron?"

"Yeah! Ever since we ran out of sandcakes, Stork's been eating cookies instead! And now that we're out, he's grumpy and complaining more than ever! And it's not just him! The other guys want cookies too! We even signed a petition!"

This was obviously a lie, for if the guys had signed a petition, Finn would've no doubt showed it to Piper by now. Plus, it wasn't exactly like them to think of something like a petition, no offence to them of course. Finn was getting desperate.

Piper sighed and was just about to tell Finn off (again), when she was hit by the spark of an idea. She closed her mouth and, in her mind, explored the possibilities of that idea, letting the spark glow into a bright, brilliant little flame. And then she smiled.

"Finn," she said slowly, her smile growing into a sly smirk, "you have just given me a brilliant idea."

Finn didn't look too pleased. He was watching Piper with a wary look on his face.

"You're starting to scare me." he said softly.

"Am I?" her orange eyes flicked to him, alight and twinkling.

"You've got a look in your eye, Piper. And I don't like it. I don't like that look in your eye!"

Piper waved away his concerns with a hand.

"It's nothing for you to worry about, Finn."

Sensing he had no desire to learn what idea Piper had cooked up, Finn stood and started for the door. On his way out, though, he paused.

"So....does this mean you're going to make more cookies?"

He expected the answer would be a decisive no, but was surprised when she said:

"Yes, Finn, yes it does."

Piper couldn't help but smile when she heard Finn's whoops as he ran a victory lap all around the ship. Oh yeah, she'd be baking cookies alright; for a very special purpose.


	3. Go Back to Bed, Junko

Junko finally put down his pen and wept a tiny drop of sweat from his forehead. After several hours of hard work, he'd finished his newest letter to Dove. He held up the page and smiled at his writing. This piece had been written with particular care, and with an eloquence and vocabulary that still surprised him. This was it; his masterpiece, his "chef d'oeuvre", his "pièce de résistance"!

He'd gotten into the habit of using french words since his and Dove's correspondence started. He was even considering asking Piper to teach him French, so he could surprise Dove next time he saw her. Though, he'd have to give a really good reason for it. He wasn't sure how he felt about Piper learning about his secret flame. But who knew? Maybe she could give him some advice. She was a girl, after all, so maybe she could help him when it came to asking Dove out, or even how to ask her to be his girlfriend.

But getting back to the letter, it was rather spectacular, in his opinion. He couldn't wait for her to read it! Hold on, why should he wait? He could deliver it to her now! He'd wake Aerrow first; Aerrow was his accomplice in deliveries. Plus, the sky knight's confident presence really helped overcome his hesitance, which always struck whenever he reached the mailbox.

Junko tip-toed to Aerrow's room, so excited he didn't even wince at how his heavy footsteps made for poor stealth. He knocked, gently so as not to wake anybody. There was no answer. Weird. Aerrow was a notoriously light sleeper, and a good knock was usually enough to wake him. He knocked again, just a little harder. Then the door opened and the wallop was faced with a really tired-looking Aerrow. He was in his sleepwear, muscle shirt and baggy pyjama pants, his hair looked rumpled as though he'd been tossing and turning a lot, and there were the beginnings of slight bags under his green eyes.

"What is it, Junko?" he said, sounding tired and fairly annoyed.

Junko held up his masterpiece.

"I've finished my newest letter to Dove!" he whispered urgently. "It's my best one yet!"

"Good for you," Aerrow deadpanned.

"Yeah, I know! And listen, we gotta go deliver it right now, so get dressed and let's go!"

Aerrow lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Junko, do you have any idea what time it is?"

Junko blinked.

"Well, it's nighttime." he said, not quite understanding. "But come on! We gotta-"

"Junko, no. It's almost midnight, for terra's sake. We're not going to deliver a letter at midnight."

His tone left no room for question. It was almost like the voice he used when giving orders in battle, his "sky knight voice" and they'd dubbed it. Junko was a little surprised at his friend's utter lack of enthusiasm now, when he'd been so encouraging only hours before.

"But-"

Aerrow held up a hand, and Junko stopped talking.

"I know you're excited, and you're in love, and you want to deliver this letter, but please, Junko, I am too tired right now for this. I'm not going out flying at midnight to deliver a letter just when I managed to fall asleep. It can wait until morning. Until then, we both need to get some sleep."

Junko was disappointed, but he supposed Aerrow was right. Besides, he did look really tired.

"Wait, you only just fell asleep when I knocked?" Junko asked.

"Yes," said Aerrow, and the irritation was back in his voice, as though the reminder was a thorn in his side.

Junko's eyes widened.

"Oh! Sorry! I forgot!" he apologized.

Aerrow had expressed having some sleep trouble lately, which Piper had called insom-something, he couldn't remember what. It was a long word.

"Okay, we'll go in the morning. You get some sleep, or try to."

Aerrow nodded.

"Good night, Junko." he said wearily, before closing the door.

Junko tip-toed back to his room and set the letter carefully on his desk, then changed and got into bed. But he couldn't sleep. He was too giddy with happiness and excitement. He couldn't wait for morning.


	4. No Sleep

By the following morning, Aerrow hadn't been able to fall asleep again. Oh well. He was sort of getting used to it at this point. He'd just have to get some payback from Junko is all.


	5. Piper's Plan

Piper had woken early that morning, ready to set Operation Make-Aerrow-Spill-The-Beans into motion. She waited in her room until she heard heavy footsteps on their way to the bridge. A minute later, she went out to check. Yup, Aerrow and Junko's skimmers were disappearing into the clouds.

Alright, time to make some cookies.

It didn't take long. The recipe was super-easy, and it wasn't long before the entire Condor was full of the smell of baking cookies. Finn, Radarr and Stork all got one whiff of it and rushed out of their rooms as she got the first batch out of the oven, literally salivating over the heavenly scent.

The navigator gave them each two cookies to satisfy them, and while they were distracted, snuck a plate of the goods into her crystal lab. Now, all she had to do was wait until Aerrow got back. And keep the others from finding and devouring her interrogation tools while she waited. If they got eaten, she'd be back to square one.


	6. Operation Make-Aerrow-Spill-the-Beans

"Do you think she'll like this one?" Junko asked Aerrow for the third time as they approached the Condor.

Aerrow rolled his eyes.

"Of course, she'll like it, Junko!" he said. "This letter's your masterpiece, remember?"

He was still tired from last night's complete and utter lack of sleep, but he couldn't really stay mad at the sheer excitement and joy in Junko's face. It was hard for Aerrow to stay mad at any of his squad mates. Well, unless that squad mate was Finn, and had just done something incredibly stupid and/or infuriating as usual.

Aerrow's attention changed abruptly, though, as they entered the hangarbay. There was a smell in the air. The sky knight sniffed and smiled. It was the most wonderful smell in the Atmos!

"Junko," he said, still sniffing to try and capture the divine scent, "do you smell that?"

The wallop drew in a long, deep breath, a huge smile slowly growing on his face.

"Yeah," he said dreamily. "It's amazing!"

There was only one thing that smell could mean.

"Cookies!" the engineer cheered, rushing into the ship, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Aerrow ran after him. He wanted some cookies too! It seemed like ages since Piper had made any, and they were by far his favourite things to eat in the world! Piper's cookies were warmth, sunshine, happiness and home all packed into the most perfect circle of sweet goodness. They were cookies to die for!

And that's why he felt crushed when he and Junko entered the bridge and saw their sharpshooter, carrier pilot and mission specialist licking the last of the cookie crumbs on their fingers and see no plate of extra cookies in sight.

"Where're the other cookies?" Aerrow asked.

Radarr looked up in surprise at the sound of his voice. His mouth was surrounded by cookies crumbs. The animal took one guilty, caught-red-pawed look at Aerrow and whined, ears drooping sadly like a scolded puppy.

"Oh! Uh, sorry dude, but, there aren't any other cookies." Finn apologized.

Junko visibly wilted.

"No more cookies?!" he whimpered. "But I haven't had any in days!"

"Well, sorry, buddy, but Piper gave us these ones and, well, we just couldn't resist."

Stork and Radarr nodded.

"Couldn't you have saved us some?" Aerrow asked.

It didn't seem fair that their crystal mage would bake cookies and not let him (or Junko) have any when she knew how much he would've wanted some.

"A-hem!"

Aerrow turned. Piper stood in the entrance to the bridge.

"Aerrow, can we talk? In private?"

The sky knight blinked.

"Um," he looked to the others who all shrugged, "Sure!"

He followed her to her crystal lab and, once he entered, was hit again by the marvellous smell of cookies. He took an appreciative sniff. Man, it smelled good!

"Sit down,"

Piper gestured to a chair at the end of the large table in the centre of the lab. Aerrow sat and looked curiously at Piper.

"Piper, before you start, I just gotta ask: why didn't you leave Junko and me any cookies? You know how much I like them, and-"

"Aerrow, don't be ridiculous!" Piper laughed, opening a cabinet and reaching inside for something. "Of course I left you some cookies!"

This statement left the redhead feeling very confused.

"But...Stork and Finn and Radarr finished them all." he said.

His navigator gave him a look that he could only describe as devious. The thought that Piper, one of the sweetest people he knew, could be such a thing sent an unexpected shiver down his spine.

"You sure about that?" she asked, before setting a heavy platter piled high with cookies right in front of him!

Aerrow's jaw dropped. He had never seen that many cookies on a single plate in his entire life! It took his breath away, and he couldn't even speak! His eyes were wide as saucers. They were...beautiful!

"Aaaah,"

Piper smirked proudly at the expression on the boy's face.

"I know," she said. "And they're all yours!"

The sky knight had to do a double-take. He looked at Piper, astonished, then back at the cookies, then back at her. She didn't look like she was joking.

"A-All of these? All for me?!"

He sounded, adorably, like a giddy schoolboy about to go on his first trip to Terra Neon. Piper nodded.

"Yup, all yours."

Speechless with elation, Aerrow reached out to grab one of the treats. But just as he could almost touch them, Piper suddenly pulled the cookies out of his reach! Aerrow gapped. Piper wagged her finger, tutting.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not yet,"

"But-But you said they were mine!" sputtered the boy.

"And they are," the crystal mage said calmly, "but I want something in exchange. I can't just give one person this many cookies for nothing."

The sky knight looked helplessly up at the girl's mischievously twinkling orange eyes.

"Piper, if it's money you want, just so you know, I don't get paid any more than you guys do and-"

"No, Aerrow, you misunderstand! It's not money I want!"

"Then what DO you want?" he asked, pleading.

Piper put her hands firmly on the table and leaned forward, looking like all the "bad cops" they saw in the movies during an interrogation scene.

"I want information." she said. "More specifically, I want to know what it is you and Junko have been up to lately."

Aerrow's eyes widened and he felt a cold sweat starting to break out on his forehead.

"Uhh-what are you talking about?" he tried, eyes darting, smiling weakly. "There's nothing going on!"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Aerrow, cut the crap. Everyone on this ship knows you're a terrible liar."

Aerrow gave up.

"Okay, there is something going on, but I can't tell you about it." he said sincerely.

Piper didn't look like she believed him.

""Can't" or "won't"?"

Aerrow bit his lip.

"Well, I guess both, since I really can't tell you."

"Don't make this hard for yourself, Aerrow." Piper warned. "Because, if you do, you'll be leaving me no choice. I'll drag it out of you if I have to."

"Well, you better start dragging, Piper, because my lips are sealed."

He sounded so confident. After all, what was the worse Piper could do? This was Piper. Surely her torture methods couldn't be that bad.

"Suite yourself." she sighed, sounding almost regretful.

Then she picked up one of the cookies. Aerrow's eyes widened.

"Piper? What are you doing?"

She grinned evilly.

"Say goodbye to your cookies, Aerrow, because if you don't answer my question, I'm going to eat them all."

The sky knight gasped.

"No! You wouldn't! You'd never eat that many cookies in one go!"

"Oh really? Watch me then."

She took a big bite of the cookie, closed her eyes and let out a loud:

"Mmmmm,"

Aerrow would never hate Piper. Never, he was sure of that. But he did find himself suddenly disliking her in that moment, as she chewed slowly on the cookie that was his by right!

"You are really missing out." she said, cheekily, as she swallowed her first bite.

Aerrow glared at her, then almost jumped from his seat to try and snatch that cookie! But easily avoided him, waving the desert teasingly at him!

"Piper, seriously, this is just cruel!"

"Then tell me what you and Junko are doing, and I'll stop!"

"I can't!" Aerrow wailed, hoping she'd be merciful.

"Fine." and she popped the rest of cookie in her mouth.

Aerrow was almost crying with desperation.

"Pleeeaaase, Piper! I seriously can't tell you! I swore on my oath as a sky knight I wouldn't!"

Piper stopped, and looked at Aerrow with wide eyes.

"Wait," she said, then swallowed. "You swore on your oath?"

"YES!"

"Oh! So you REALLY couldn't tell me!"

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!"

He was still grasping vainly for the cookie platter. Piper saw this and pushed the platter closer so it was in easy reach. Aerrow's face lit up and he was quick to eat two cookies in quick succession, almost inhaling the first one, then chewing the second slowly and almost melting in his seat from its sheer deliciousness. Piper sat on the edge of the table.

"Looks like I have to start from scratch again." she said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Aerrow looked up from his cookie.

"What'd you mean?"

"Well, I still don't know what's going on, and you swore on your oath, and you're never gonna break a promise like that, so you can't tell me anything. So that means I have to find a way to get Junko to spill the beans instead of you."

Aerrow paused. He thought about his promise to Junko. He'd sworn on his oath as a sky knight that he wouldn't tell anyone EXACTLY what Junko was doing, and Piper had been desperate enough to use his love of her cookies against him, so he supposed he could tell her something. Besides, he'd already forgiven her for her torture method. Piper was one of the people he just couldn't stay mad at.

"You know, just because I can't tell you what it is Junko and I are doing doesn't mean I can't give you some hints."

She turned her gaze to him, intrigued.

"I'm listening." she said.


	7. Piper Finds Out

Junko paced the hangarbay. He knew that it had been only a few hours since he'd delivered his letter, but he still felt restless and anxious over the fact that Dove hadn't replied yet. Perhaps he was just being impatient, a very rare occurrence, but telling himself that wasn't making him feel any better.

"Aw man, what if she doesn't reply?" he muttered, wringing his hands.

He shook his head.

"No, don't be silly, Junko. You did send her a lot of letters. Just give her some time."

He looked out at the sky, and was suddenly longing to see her again; to see her smile so prettily, with blue eyes twinkling just so, and those cute dimples in her cheeks...

"Hey, Junko, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Junko turned as Piper approached. She was smiling, and his frightened nerves settled down somewhat.

"Oh, sure, Piper. What's up?"

"I know." she said.

Such simple words. Two, very small, insignificant words. And yet, those two words made Junko's heart drop into the pit of his cavernous stomach. Which is quite a feat, I might add.

"You-Y-You-You-W-What are you talking about?!" he practically squeaked.

She nodded.

"I know what you've been up to."

Junko paled.

"But-B-B-But how-What-How do you-"

Then he spotted Aerrow, peeking out from the edge of the door to the hangarbay. He looked guilty as hell, and mouthed:

"Sorry,"

The wallop steamed.

"You told her?!!!" he shouted.

Aerrow winced, but Piper stepped in front of the engineer before he could run at the sky knight.

"Please don't be mad at him, Junko. He would've carried that secret to his grave if I hadn't forced him."

The red slowly faded from the wallop's vision, and he looked at the navigator half quizzically, half nervously.

"Forced him?" he repeated.

Piper dismissed the question with a wave of her hand.

"I did what I had to do." she said. "But, anyway, that's not important. I just have one question to ask you."

Although he was hesitant, Junko nodded.  
  
"Okay,"

"Why didn't you tell any of us?"

Junko let out a small sigh. He wasn't sure if it was out of relief.

"Well, honestly, I thought you guys might laugh at me. I mean, sending love letters when I could just ask her out. Plus, you know, Finn's got a huge crush on Dove and-"

Piper gasped.

"You're sending love letters to Dove?!" she said, as though she'd just discovered a brand new type of crystal.

Junko blinked. Why did she say that like she didn't know before-?

Suddenly, he caught on to the trick! He looked, wide-eyed, from her to Aerrow.

"You! You-You tricked me!" he exclaimed.

Aerrow chuckled guiltily, stepping out from his sort-of hiding place.

"Sorry, bud." he apologized. "She wore me down." he pointed a thumb at Piper, who still looked star-struck. "But, well, at least I didn't break my promise."

Which was true, Junko had to admit, but he was a little peeved that he and Piper had managed to trick him into confessing his secret activities. Piper let out a tiny squeal of delight, tapping her feet in almost a little dance.

"Oh my gosh! You and Dove! It makes so much sense! I mean, I never thought about before, but now-Wow, you guys would be so cute! I'm so happy for you Junko! And sending her love letters, it's just so romantic!"

She clasped her hands together as she babbled happily, looking positively beaming with happiness. Aerrow leaned over to Junko and whispered fondly:

"She's so adorable when she gets all excited like this."

Junko had to agree; their crystal mage certainly did look adorable. When she finally appeared to have calmed herself down, she faced both boys, still smiling broadly.

"Junko, this is great! I'm sure Dove's gonna love your letters!"

Junko blushed. He certainly hoped she was right. Then Piper's expression became just a bit more serious.

"But now, I really don't understand why you didn't want to tell us."

"Well, mostly it's because I don't want Finn to find out, 'cause you know he-"

He suddenly stopped talking as he spotted Finn approaching. Letting out a small, scared noise, he pointed at the blond. Aerrow and Piper narrowed their eyes in confusion, until Finn spoke up:

"Hey, guys, what's up?"

They whirled around to face him.

"Finn! Uh, hey!" Aerrow greeted, eyes darting nervously as he mentally searched for an excuse as to why they were all standing here.

His eyes landed on Piper's heliscooter, so he decided to do what he did best: he improvised.

"We were just talking about Piper's heliscooter." he said, a little rushed.

Piper caught his eyes and went along with it.

"Yeah. It's been a little off lately, so I asked Junko to take a look at it."

Junko nodded vigorously at the story, hoping the blond would buy it. Luckily, he appeared to, and he shrugged.

"Okay," said, turning away, then adding: "Oh, and Junko? Maybe you could take a look at my spare skimmer? It's been smelling funny lately."

The engineer nodded again.

"Sure thing, Finn!"

The three waited with baited breath until Finn was out of sight.

"Phew! That was a close one!" said Aerrow.

"Yeah," added Piper.

Junko turned to his friends.

"So, what should we do now?"

Aerrow looked to his first officer.

"I think we should wait until Dove sends you a reply for now." she said. "It'll be safer than you two sneaking around all the time. Honestly, you guys are lucky it was just me who noticed something was up!"

Aerrow agreed with her. Junko did too, albeit with some reluctance. Waiting wasn't going to be easy. Still, it made him less nervous that someone else knew about him and Dove. Though, the way Piper put it, it seemed that the others might catch on too at this rate, and that thought was considerably more worrying.


	8. Oh Dear

To say that things were a bit awkward on the Condor from then on would be an understatement. Junko, Aerrow and Piper lived in fear/paranoia of Finn finding out about the wallop and Dove. However, they shouldn't have been so worried. The blond sharpshooter remained utterly oblivious as they waited for Dove's reply. Also, by being so worried, they were more on edge. The more on edge they were, the more suspicious they acted. And the more suspicious they acted, the more Finn started to notice, which made them worry even more and-basically, it was a vicious circle.

At least for two days it was. On the third day, everyone was on the bridge, even our nervous trio. Piper was looking over her maps and trying to plot a new course, since they'd been flying aimlessly for days and she figured work could help settle her nerves. The boys, however, decided to work off their stress by joining Finn and Radarr in a game of poker. Though they weren't doing too badly (their poker faces were better than their ability to lie), Finn was way in the lead and boasted of it loudly.

"I mean, seriously guys, you'd think it'd be a bit more of a challenge, with three competitors!" he laughed, collecting another small pile of chips.

Radarr growled at the blond. He couldn't believe he'd folded such a good hand! He had half a mind to bite Finn on the butt again. Finn, unaware of the co-pilot's vicious thoughts, was busy counting his winnings.

"But, to be fair," he said as the chips made a soft clattering sound, "I'm pretty much the master poker player on this ship."

He chuckled.

"Seems that lady luck is cheating on you, Aerrow, 'cause she's with the Finnster now!"

Aerrow almost rolled his eyes, but decided against it. Keeping Finn in a good mood made him less suspicious, so if the cost of that was to lose badly to him at poker, then so be it.

"Isn't anyone going to tell Finn about how Dove and Junko are having a secret literary love affair, or do I have to do it?" Stork finally spoke up.

He'd figured that information would finally stop Finn's boasting, and he was right. The sharpshooter was rendered speechless. He stared, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at Junko. He himself was staring at Stork, blushing crimson, in horror. Aerrow and Piper shared a look, their expressions saying, quite plainly: "Oh sh*t we're dead!" In the silence, Stork shrugged.

"What? You guys think you can sneak around without me finding out why? I know this ship and her secrets better than you ever can!"

The shocked silence broke as Finn jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair and throwing down all the chips he had in hand.

"You?!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Junko.

Junko held up his hand of cards as though it were a shield from the sharpshooter's wrath.

"Finn, I'm so sorry, but-"

"You and Dove?! My biggest crush?! You're dating her even though you knew I liked her?!! You went behind my back and...and..." he struggled to find the word. "You SEDUCED HER!!!"

"No, you don't understand!" Junko got to his feet, blushing even harder.

"I think I understand plenty!" Finn advanced, mad as magma beast.

Junko backed away, looking terrified at his best friend, palms up in surrender. In the wake of Finn's rage, he seemed to have forgotten that the blond was actually a lot weaker than him and probably couldn't hurt him even if he tried. Aerrow and Piper ran forward.

"Finn, please you've got to listen!" Aerrow said.

"Yes! Junko didn't seduce-" Piper began, but Finn whirled on them.

"YOU KNEW!?!! YOU BOTH KNEW ABOUT THIS!!?!!"

He snarled at them, making them both flinch. Stork, meanwhile, just watched from his position at the steering. Maybe he shouldn't have said that.

"AND YOU!!!" Finn turned to Radarr, who shrieked with fear. "DID YOU KNOW?!"

Radarr shook his head vehemently, squeaking and chittering nervously. Aerrow rushed to his best friend's aid, stepping in front of him and shielding him from Finn.

"Leave Radarr out of this! He had no idea what was going on!"

Aerrow stopped, then turned to his co-pilot.

"You...didn't know what was going on?" he asked, just to be sure.

Radarr squeaked an affirmative. He hadn't even known that Junko liked Dove, let alone that he was having a love affair with her! At least, that's what he thought Stork had said. He didn't understand what "literary" meant.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS JUNKO!!!" Finn shouted, turning his anger back full-strength on the wallop.

"Easy, Finn!" Junko squeaked in fear.

The blond, far from going easy, charged at him! Junko screamed and ran, the blond right on his tail!

"Finn! Stop!" Piper cried, sprinting after them, followed closely by Aerrow.

Aerrow managed to catch up with the blond first and got him around the arm. The blond shook him off, making him land painfully on the bard floor, but he tripped Finn and pinned him down. Finn fought to get the sky knight off, but Aerrow was stronger than him. However, Aerrow wasn't full of rage and adrenaline, so the blond managed to give him a good kick in the stomach. Aerrow winced and buckled as Finn gave him an uppercut to the jaw, making his teeth clang together. Finn got up and dashed again for Junko, who was cowering out of his reach. He was stopped, however, when Piper got him in the back with a flying kick, knocking him down again! She held his arms back, holding him off as he tried to make a grab for the wallop. Aerrow, dizzy from the punch and still a bit winded, blinked and saw what was happening. He got to his feet and ran to help Piper, who was struggling to keep Finn locked in her grip. Both of them grabbed one of Finn's arms and started hauling him away from Junko, but the sharpshooter kicked and yelled, until Radarr appeared. The animal made a spectacular leap and sunk his teeth into Finn's butt!

"AAAOOOOOWWWWAAAAAA!!!!" Finn hollered in pain! "GET HIM OFF!!!"

He shook his posterior fiercely, trying to get him loose, but the mission specialist held fast. Finn's limbs went flying and WHACK! One of his hands hit Piper in the face,

"OW!"

She fell backwards, hand over her eye. BAM! Finn's foot connected with Aerrow's leg!

"OUCH!"

Aerrow's grip was starting to loosen. Finn was still jumping around in pain, Radarr was still clamped to his derrière (more to keep from being flung across the room than to cause the sharpshooter actual pain) and Junko was still watching everything with increasing worry. Stork hurried forward and helped Piper to her feet. Her eye was a bit swollen and the skin around it was darkening rapidly.

"I am so going to make Finn pay for that." she muttered.

Stork was about to reply (probably suggest some horrific torture method she could use on the blond) when something appeared out of the corner of his eye with a flap of its wings.  
  
"GUYS!" he shouted, causing poor Piper's ears to ring. "Look!"

Everyone froze in whatever position they were in and looked. A small bird carrying a scroll landed with a gentle swoop on the table, setting down the scroll as it did so. It regarded them calmly, as if it was used to seeing a cowering wallop, two humans and a sky monkey-like-creature in a scuffle and a merb holding up another human with a black eye.

"Is that a carrier pigeon?" Finn asked.

"I think it is." said Aerrow.

The pigeon nudged the scroll with its beak. Stork looked at the others, then walked cautiously over to it. The bird flapped off, cooing, as he gingerly took hold of the message. He enrolled it and read out loud:

"Dear Junko, thank you so much for your wonderful letters. I was overjoyed to receive them, so much so that your latest one almost made me cry; it was so beautiful! No boy has ever done something so romantic for me! However, am I astonished that you would spend this much time beating around the bush. If you like me so much as to send me romantic love letters, why didn't you just ask me out already? I would've said yes long ago! But I guess the old saying stands true: if you want to do something right, then you've got to do it yourself. So, Junko, would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow afternoon on Terra Fauna in the field of giant daisies? (I really like daisies, and I've always wanted to see the giant ones) If yes, then pick me up at 3. See you tomorrow!

Dove

P.S: Please tell Finn that it'll never work between us. I prefer the strong but sweet types, and he is too flirty (and skinny) for my taste."

The merb lifted his eyes from the letter. Junko's mouth had practically dropped to the floor, but then it spread into a huge grin.

"YES!" he jumped up, hands in the air, and ran around the room victoriously. "She likes me! She likes me! I'm going on a date with Dove! I'm going on a date with Dove!"

Finn sank to his knees, eyes filling with tears.

"She...She doesn't...Won't work between us? But I thought we had something special!" he wailed, breaking out into huge, comical sobs.

Aerrow, a little beat-up and bruised in a few places, patted him on the head.

"It'll be okay, buddy." he said, smiling as he watched Junko break into a little dance not unlike the one Piper had done when she'd found out.

Piper herself, sporting a black eye, stood beside him, looking happy for Junko despite her injury.

"It's really nice to see him look this happy." she said.

"Yeah, it is." Aerrow replied.


	9. Dear Dove

Dear Dove,

I just remembered that on our last date, I forgot to ask you something. Well, two things, actually.

1\. Can I have your radio number? I like writing letters as much as the next guy, but I think it'll be quicker if we could just talk on the radio.

2\. Would you like to be my girlfriend?

Please write soon!

Junko

P.S: Finn's still upset about your message to him. He's been eating a lot of ice cream, even though Piper told him that's not going to help him get any muscles. He told me to ask you if it was his hair that you didn't like, and would you give him a chance if he dyed it.


	10. Dear Junko

Dear Junko,

Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend! As for my radio number, ask Piper for it. We've chatted a few times already so she should have it. Call me!

Your girlfriend, Dove

P.S: Tell Finn that no, changing his hair is not going to make me change my mind. Also, there are lots of girls who do like the skinny types, so he might want to stop binge-eating that ice cream.


End file.
